Giants’ reasoning for trade deadline inaction makes little sense

The Giants did nothing at the 2024 trade deadline.
As Talkin’ Giants pointed out, this is the first deadline they haven’t made a move since 2021 and just the second time since 2018.
There were certainly some moves they could have made. Wide receiver Darius Slayton and edge rusher Azeez Ojulari — two pending free agents who were heavily rumored to be on the move — might have netted them a pair of mid to late round picks.
But their inaction is not the issue here.
The problem is their reasoning.
As ESPN reminded us Tuesday, the Giants did not trade pending free agents Saquon Barkley or Xavier McKinney last season, when they were 2-5, because co-owner John Mara “prioritized” the on-field product down the stretch. Here’s Mara’s full comments on the matter at the time:
“I hate trading guys right at the trade deadline because it almost signals that you are giving up on the season Saquon, I was still hoping to be able to sign, so I don’t regret that. It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to do it, but from his standpoint at least we allowed him to pick where he wanted to go, and I think we owed him that to tell you the truth rather than just trading him somewhere maybe he wouldn’t want to go.”
That, ESPN noted, “seems to be the case” this season as well.
And look, this makes sense to an extent. A trade deadline fire sale sends a white-flag message to your locker room and could hurt team morale as the season wraps up. This is obviously not what the Giants want, especially as their stars repeatedly use the term “frustrated.”
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But let’s be honest now. Given this team’s laundry list of issues, do we really think Slayton and Ojulari will make a difference between the Giants being respectable and being a bottom feeder?
Without Slayton, Daniel Jones still won’t have enough talent to elevate the offense and steal victories. The Giants’ top 10 defense would have survived without Ojulari too — they did fine the first five games of the season, before Kayvon Thibodeaux was injured and Ojulari filled his role, after all.
All of that’s not to mention the tank-sized elephant in the room: Much like last season, when Tommy DeVito ruined the Giants’ chances of getting Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye, the Giants probably shouldn’t win a whole lot of their remaining games anyways.
Bottom line: The on-field product is going to be a mess anyway. Might as well get something from the few valuable — and expiring — assets that other teams want.
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Ryan Novozinsky may be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on X @ryannovo62.